Sukhbir appears in Chandigarh court as Kotkapura firing trial starts

Chandigarh/Bathinda: Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday appeared before a Chandigarh court in the 2015 Kotkapura police firing case, a month after the Punjab and Haryana high court ordered transfer of the trial from Faridkot to Chandigarh. Former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini appeared through videoconferencing.With this, proceedings in the case formally began in the Chandigarh district and sessions court. The sessions court has posted the matter for June 1 to be heard along with the related Behbal Kalan police firing case.Sukhbir's counsel Arshdeep Singh Kler said Badal and the other accused appeared before the court in compliance with the high court's directions following transfer of the case.The Kotkapura firing case pertains to the police action on Oct 14, 2015, when protesters demonstrating against sacrilege incidents at Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala were allegedly fired upon by police at Kotkapura. During this, protesters Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh were killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan, while several others were injured.The Punjab and Haryana high court had on April 9 ordered transfer of the Kotkapura-related FIRs to Chandigarh, observing that interconnected cases should be tried together at one place. The Behbal Kalan case had already been transferred from Faridkot to Chandigarh in May 2024.The FIRs include charges under sections related to attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, destruction of public property and provisions of the Arms Act. Several senior police officers, including former DGP Saini, are among the accused.Earlier, proceedings in the Kotkapura case had been stalled for over 22 months after transfer of the interconnected Behbal Kalan case. In July 2022, the high court had directed that both cases be heard simultaneously and decided in accordance with law.